Before Handing Out Awards, A Moment of Appreciation for the 2022 Rookie Class

On Monday, MLB unveiled the three highest vote-getters for its four major end-of-season awards, including the three top-voted rookies in each league. Steven Kwan, Julio Rodríguez, and Adley Rutschman made the cut from a strong American League pool including playoff double-MVP Jeremy Peña, 2022 preseason No. 2 prospect Bobby Witt Jr., and rotation standouts from across the circuit (George Kirby, Reid Detmers, and Joe Ryan). In the National League, teammates Spencer Strider and Michael Harris II underscored Atlanta’s bright future with quick breakouts. Inaugural Gold Glove utilityman Brendan Donovan complemented his defensive versatility with a 129 wRC+ to earn an underdog spot among the finalists over Jake McCarthy, Seiya Suzuki, and others.

The winners won’t be revealed until this coming Monday, but this week’s announcement was a sort of celebration of a rookie class that lived up to expectations and then some. Award season is about recognition of individual achievement over the past regular season, but in the case of the Rookie of the Year, it also feels like a prospective look at the careers that might be awaiting us. With the talent exhibited by this year’s class, particularly the position players, it seems we have a lot to look forward to.

This year’s position player cohort racked up 54.9 WAR, the second-highest in a single season after a 2015 class that featured Kris Bryant, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa, Joc Pederson, Kyle Schwarber, and Corey Seager, among others. Some of that was a matter of opportunity; rookies took more trips to the plate this year than in all but a handful of years. But they held their own with an 89 wRC+, second only to that same 2015 class. And, as evidenced by the award finalists, the class featured some premiere talent at the top. The five position players leading this year’s group in WAR — Rodríguez, Rutschman, Harris, Kwan, and Peña — amassed a total of 23.2 WAR, the highest since 2012, when Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Yoenis Cespedes, Yasmani Grandal, and Todd Frazier all cleared the rookie eligibility threshold.

Rodríguez and Rutschman were even at the top of the class with 5.3 WAR this season, matching each other for the most in a rookie season since Aaron Judge finished with 8.7 WAR as a rookie in 2017. In the last 20 seasons, the only players with rookie seasons as productive as Rodríguez’s and Rutschman’s are Judge, Bryant, Jose Abreu in 2014, Trout in 2012, and Evan Longoria in 2008. The last time two rookies posted 5.0-WAR seasons in the same year was 2001, when future Hall of Famers Albert Pujols (7.2) and Ichiro Suzuki (6.0) debuted.

As amazing as that duo was this season, Harris and Kwan were not too far behind in terms of production. Harris was called up in late May and finished with 4.8 WAR in 114 games, showcasing his abilities with all five tools to finish with a .297/.339/.514 slash line alongside strong center field defense and the eighth-highest BsR in the NL. Kwan started for the Guardians on Opening Day and, aside from a sub-par May, gave Cleveland disciplined production from the top of the order, finishing with 4.4 WAR of his own.

That level of production from a quartet of position player rookies was historic; the last four position player rookies to finish with 4.0 WAR or more in the same year were Dick Allen, Tony Oliva, Jim Ray Hart, and Rico Carty in 1964. But the position player talent ran deep this year. The top nine finishers in WAR — the five position player finalists along with Peña, McCarthy, Witt, and Suzuki — all had 2.0 or more.

On the mound, the 2022 rookie class was a little more top-heavy. Strider burst onto the scene with one of the finest rookie seasons in recent memory, leading the majors with a 2.39 xERA, a 1.83 FIP, and a 2.30 xFIP in 131.2 IP, finishing with a 2.67 ERA. His 4.9 WAR ranked eighth among big leaguers, just a hair behind teammate and Cy Young finalist Max Fried’s 5.0 in over 50 more innings, and was the most by a rookie pitcher since Hideo Nomo’s 5.2 in 1995.

Strider went unmatched from a production standpoint, but in addition to the trio of starters in Kirby, Detmers, and Ryan, the 2022 class also showcased a slew of dominant relief arms. Minnesota’s Jhoan Duran had the hardest fastball in the majors, averaging 100.8 mph en route to a 1.86 ERA. The Orioles’ Félix Bautista struck out 88 in just 65.2 innings with his own high-powered four-seamer. Scott Effross became a key weapon in the Yankees bullpen down the stretch, as did lefty Dylan Lee with Atlanta. Cincinnati’s Alexis Díaz generated a ton of swings and misses and ended up closing games for the Reds by September.

Between the high levels of production from the position players and the eye-catching talent of the pitchers, this year’s rookie class put on a show all season and, thanks to Peña and others, into the playoffs. On Monday, we’ll celebrate the best rookie in each league, and each of them will have earned that honor against some tough competition. But until then, let’s recognize the abundance of top-tier talent introduced to the game this year. Chances are we’ll be celebrating most of them for a long time to come.